Blue Angels Name First Female Fighter Jet Demonstration Pilot

Navy Lt. Amanda Lee will become the aerial acrobatics team's first female F/A-18E/F demonstration pilot in the coming season.

Kimberly Johnson

Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 03:56 PM ET

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Lt. Amanda Lee, a F/A-18E/F demonstration pilot currently assigned to the "Gladiators" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106. [Courtesy: Department of Defense]

Key Takeaways:

Lt. Amanda Lee has been selected as the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels' first female fighter jet flight demonstration pilot in the team's nearly 80-year history.
While women have previously served with the Blue Angels in other capacities, Lee's role for the 2023 season marks the first time a woman will pilot one of the team's demonstration fighter jets.
Lee has a history of breaking barriers, including participating in the Navy's first all-female flyover to honor pioneering female aviator Capt. Rosemary Mariner.

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For the first time in its nearly 80-year history, the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels aerial demonstration team will have a woman in the cockpit as a fighter jet flight demonstration pilot.

The Navy announced that Lt. Amanda Lee, a F/A-18E/F demonstration pilot currently assigned to the “Gladiators” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia, had been selected to join the Blue Angels team for the 2023 season.